Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Strange Magic ❯ Chapter 4

"…Yugi? Are you back?" Jounouchi's voice sank in when Yugi had control of his body again. He nodded. "Jounouchi-kun, I'm sorry - I don't know what's wrong with him. I'll talk to him."

His friend returned the nod, still looking confused. "You're all weird, you know that?" Then he gave a good-natured smile. "Okay, wanna go on with the duel?"

Yugi nodded, smiling back. "It's still my turn, isn't it? Black Magician - attack!"

Back home in Yugi's room, the sun setting outside, the boy sat on his bed, pondering. "My other - … Yami?" he asked into the room.

The requested one appeared in his astral form, sitting beside him on the bed. "Yes aibou?"

Yugi regarded him attentively. "Today…"

Yami sighed. "I know, I… I'm sorry." He scratched his transparent head. "That was selfish. And it's not how an aibou should act. - Damn it, I'm confused."

Yugi looked up at the confession. This did not sound like his partner's usual self-assured self. "But what happened? I… It's about the Black Magician, isn't it? Well… He saved your life, and you had to thank him." Yugi smiled a little. "But you could have just told me! I would have let you in! And…you were so strange, Jounouchi-kun also said so. What's going on?"

Yami sighed again. "If only I knew. You see, aibou…"

Yugi smiled slightly and listened, and Yami went on: "There's …this bond between us. I've seen him, on this stone plate, with me… There's this bond that's several thousand years old. And I can't remember. I don't know what it is, but…the more time I spend in this world - in this time… the more I feel that it's special. Only I'll probably never get my memory back. And he haunts my thoughts. And he …" He stopped.

Yugi laid his hand on his shoulder, letting it sink down through his form onto the mattress. "This is my fault, isn't it? You want to stay with me, and so you have to live without your memory." He looked down.

His darker self shook his head. "No. I've made that decision. I do want to stay with you, and I'll just have to figure this out. You're my partner, and I won't leave you alone, no matter what. … But it's still hard."

Yugi nodded in understanding. "So…he's much more to you than a card, isn't he?"

"Yes." Yami's voice was getting slightly hoarse. "He…" He paused again. "There's this ban, or something, keeping him in the card. It can't be natural, I've seen him on this stone plate at my side. More or less." He frowned. "And now he must be breaking the spell. Somehow. He was acting on his own, in Pandora's chamber. No other monster can do that. He was breaking the rules of the game, to save me. And… Yugi, if you'd seen the look in his eyes…"

The hikari of the pair looked at him, stunned, and just felt the wish to hug him.

After a while of silence, he asked in a small voice, "And you can only summon him at the duels?"

"I think so."

"But he guards the room in your mind…Can't you speak to him there?"

"I've never tried," Yami confessed. "Before you told me of your meeting, I didn't even know he was there like that. I knew there were the stone plates, but that… that he was there, and so independent…With a free will even…And it was him who decided to appear and then to let you and that Shadi guy pass, right?"

Yugi nodded. "But...If he's there…Shadi wanted to summon the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and there were all the other plates - does that mean that they all live in your mind?"

Yami sighed and scratched his chin. "I don't know exactly. All I know is…they aren't supposed to really live. They were banned in there, in the stone plates. And it …" He paused, then continued, "If you think about it, it's possible that they are sort of incorporated in here." He pointed to his head. "I was the Pharaoh after all, that much I know. But they shouldn't live, like we do. But obviously Black Magician does…" His eyes took on a faraway look.

After some silence and after Yugi had digested the information, he nudged Yami's astral ribs with a smile. "Have you got a crush on him?"

His partner started and fixed him with a glare, then his features softened again. After a long pause, with Yugi watching him attentively, he murmured, "It might be."

Yugi smiled widely. "Then why don't you ask him out?" He paused. "Uh… Maybe…You can visit him in the room in your mind! And, we can summon him! I'll ask Jounouchi-kun! We can duel and…" He looked at his yami with bright eyes.

The pharaoh gave a silent laugh. "I'll think about it…Thank you." He regarded his hikari, a smirk growing on his face. "But something else I've been wanting to ask you…How 'bout Jounouchi, huh?"

Yugi blushed a deeper shade of red. "I…Well…We're good friends! And…"

"And?"

"I don't know… We've become really close. And I don't know…what he thinks of me…"

Yami gave a satisfied smile. "I knew it. You're crushing on him. Well, we'll get that straight too. But now let's sleep, okay?"

Yugi looked at him stunned for a few seconds, then nodded, the former blush still in place. "Okay…" He broke into a smile. "Good night Yami."

"Sleep well, aibou." The pharaoh's astral form disappeared.